Chennai, April 12, 2025 – The Supreme Court has transformed 10 Tamil Nadu bills into law, ruling that Governor RN Ravi’s years-long delay in granting assent was “illegal and arbitrary.” The landmark verdict, delivered Tuesday, April 8, is a massive win for Chief Minister MK Stalin’s DMK government, which battled Ravi’s stalling on bills from 2020 to 2023, including key university reforms. Stalin hailed it as “historic—not just for Tamil Nadu, but all Indian states” fighting governor roadblocks (NDTV).
Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan blasted Ravi for reserving the bills for President Droupadi Murmu after withholding assent, a move they called a violation of Article 200 (The Indian Express). The bills—covering Vice-Chancellor appointments and a Siddha Medical University—were deemed approved from their re-submission dates (The Hindu). “Governors can’t choke legislatures,” the bench said, setting a one-month cap for governors to act or a three-month limit if reserving for the President (Times of India). Stalin’s team, led by advocate P Wilson, celebrated—X posts erupted, “DMK’s won federalism!” (post:5).
The bills, some from AIADMK’s era, shift university control to the state—like Madras and Anna University amendments nixing the governor as Chancellor (India Today). Ravi’s 2021-25 tenure sparked rows—DMK accused him of BJP bias, citing his NEET exemption delay (Business Standard). With 162 of 181 bills cleared, his 10 hold-ups stood out (NDTV, 2023). Kerala and Punjab echoed Tamil Nadu’s gripes, cheering the verdict (The Hindu).
This isn’t just law—it’s a power shift. Will Ravi bow out, or keep sparring? For now, Stalin’s got the edge.
